CTL building strategies

[frenchyge]

I didn't do a very good job of drafting the first day especially (my average watts were just 2 lower than the pacer!).....Hopefully I can do a beter job in the peloton than I can behind the metal-man!

Considering that he can't swerve into your wheel and take you down, I'd say Metal-man would be the ultimate in drafting practice. You should probably be riding right on his back! Does the CT have crosswind simulations and stuff, or is it purely still air that you're pedalling through?

Families are great. They keep you from overtraining

I agree. Despite all the 'fear-mongering' that one reads in generic training books, I have a hard time that overtraining is really that easy for family-people to do without a concerted effort.

Nice job so far! Enjoy that victory-lap stage 5 tomorrow.

 

[postal_bag]

Well, I'm definitely battling some kind of illness. My CTL has gradually dropped from ~86 to ~70 since mid February. I think a combination of hard training, poor quality of sleep, and long hours at work have taken a toll.

It's as if I always feel like I'm getting a cold that never really manifests itself. The low point came a few weeks ago when I trained just 2 times in a 10 day period.

Thankfully, work has let up and I have managed to "train" 6 days out of the last 7. By necessity, due to fatigue, my average IF is down to 0.79 for the week, from the 0.88 I was averaging earlier in the year. I can't muster anything more than high L2 to low L3. I guess I'm doing my "base" training now.

Ironically, this has been my first 800+ TSS week since last season.

Now the question: is the CTL I'm re-building worthwhile?

 

[packfill]

Dave,

How do you factor in your skiing or other activities to accurately track your year over year CTL etc.?

I am at a loss when I do non-power meter activities on how to account for it.

PF

 

[Piotr]

Well, I'm definitely battling some kind of illness. My CTL has gradually dropped from ~86 to ~70 since mid February. I think a combination of hard training, poor quality of sleep, and long hours at work have taken a toll.

It's as if I always feel like I'm getting a cold that never really manifests itself. The low point came a few weeks ago when I trained just 2 times in a 10 day period.

Thankfully, work has let up and I have managed to "train" 6 days out of the last 7. By necessity, due to fatigue, my average IF is down to 0.79 for the week, from the 0.88 I was averaging earlier in the year. I can't muster anything more than high L2 to low L3. I guess I'm doing my "base" training now.

Ironically, this has been my first 800+ TSS week since last season.

Now the question: is the CTL I'm re-building worthwhile?

I've been hovering around CTL of 88 for the last 2 weeks and the most weekly TSS I've done this year was around 750. Are you sure you're not hitting it a little too hard and then paying the price? Those intense types of weeks at low CTL can come back to bite you again and again if you're not careful. Though you may feel like vengence, sensibility is perhaps better advised. IOW, watch your ATL/TSB closely if you're prone to work stress/fatigue. It will make that magenta that much higher and yellow that much lower. So, take your time with the blue.

 

[peterpen]

Well, I'm definitely battling some kind of illness. My CTL has gradually dropped from ~86 to ~70 since mid February. I think a combination of hard training, poor quality of sleep, and long hours at work have taken a toll.

It's as if I always feel like I'm getting a cold that never really manifests itself.

Not to be a 'fear-monger,' but this sounds like overtraining to me. I know it's a radical idea on this particular forum, but perhaps your intensity is too high? In your shoes, I'd take two weeks off the bike completely and see how I felt. I'd also reevaluate how my training fit into all the other stresses in my life and if I might get more benefit from training at a lower, more sustainable intensity.

 

[frenchyge]

The 'fear-monger' comment was an inside joke from another thread. Please disregard.

I took a 17-CTL hit the last 2 weeks with mild illness also -- congestion, dry-coughs, and low-grade aches. I took a couple days off to get over it, but it just kinda hung around until the doctor gave me some antibiotics. There has been a lot of crud circulating lately, and I've been fortunate to have missed or fought off all but this one.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

....I know it's a radical idea on this particular forum, but perhaps your intensity is too high? ....

Doesn't sound radical to me, if your stale on feeling on the verge of illness at a steady load then something's gotta give. Always listen to your body. I'd take some time off to clear your mind and rest your body and take the CTL hit. No good building more load on a tired body or mind.

When you get back at it you might review your training and see if you can figure out what brought on the staleness. Was it something to do with your training/rest mix, your nutrition, other life stresses, a low level illness that you never really got over? Whatever the cause it sounds like time for some rest and a reset.

Good luck,
-Dave

 

[daveryanwyoming]

...How do you factor in your skiing or other activities to accurately track your year over year CTL etc.?...

This is a subject that gets debated a lot, should you estimate non cycling activities, how much does it cross over to cycling fitness, do you use the PMC to track fitness, fatigue or a bit of both? No easy answers, but if those cross training activities are relatively aerobic and hopefully stress the legs like nordic skiing and you don't do a ton of it so it doesn't dramatically alter your overall PMC then it makes sense to me to enter those cross training workouts as manual workouts in WKO+. Other folks believe you should enter everything, something like weight lifting might not transfer directly to your aerobic cycling fitness but it definitely contributes to fatigue. So it depends a bit on how you view the PMC and what you hope to track with it.

Anyway I estimate things like XC ski skating or rollerblading by paying attention to my breathing and overall perceived exertion while doing the activity. I ask myself how it compares to my best hour of that same activity, IOW I estimate the intensity factor(IF). I enter the workout as a manual workout in WKO+ from the calendar page by double clicking the date, entering some descriptive text and using the pull down menu on the upper right of the screen to enter a new manual workout. I just enter IF and time and it calculates TSS and AP(actually it's more like NP that gets calculated which could screw up charts like KJ burned if you do too much of this estimated cross training). Anyway, that's it. Save the workout in question and it will be tallied into your PMC charts. BTW I also classify these cross training workouts, even if they're on a bike or gym erg as something other than "bike" using the sports pull down menu. That way I can filter individual graphs on the Athlete's Home Page to exclude them. I don't want a huge single power value spike in my power histogram or false data on my MMP charts based on these manual workouts. Remember they treat the workout as though the entire session was held at one average power which can mess with some of your charts.

Hope that helps,
-Dave

 

[packfill]

That way I can filter individual graphs on the Athlete's Home Page to exclude them. I don't want a huge single power value spike in my power histogram or false data on my MMP charts based on these manual workouts. Remember they treat the workout as though the entire session was held at one average power which can mess with some of your charts.

Dave,

Thanks. You hit the nail on the head. I have guesstimated a mountain bike session and that one constant power value does mess things a bit. I like doing some other activities to clear the mind, but can get fussy about the data.

How do you filter it out or some of the charts (esp. MMP)?

 

[daveryanwyoming]

...How do you filter it out or some of the charts (esp. MMP)?

Go to customize chart and click the sports tab. Make sure only "bike" is checked if that's all you want on the chart. In the latest release of WKO+ you can also filter individual data series on each chart. So you could have a chart that for instance showed total training hours but also showed peak 20 minute power or KJ for only one sport of your choosing. That's the only reason I upgraded from the older version.

-Dave

 

[packfill]

Go to customize chart and click the sports tab. Make sure only "bike" is checked if that's all you want on the chart. In the latest release of WKO+ you can also filter individual data series on each chart. So you could have a chart that for instance showed total training hours but also showed peak 20 minute power or KJ for only one sport of your choosing. That's the only reason I upgraded from the older version.

-Dave

Thanks so much. I think I am running 2.2.

 

[ctgt]

Stage 4 Update 4 laps 1996 Olympic Course 49.3 km
1:27:46 AW 227 AHR 159 new CTL 79.4 new TSB -22.2

[all CTLs and TSBs include WUCDs]

Definitely felt it in my legs on the steeper sections, but overall doing alright for Day 4 (had to pick a shorter race because of other commitments, errands, etc.) Not that the Watss/HR relationship is all that crucial, but it consistently widened throughout the 4 days, so at least that's some indicator that I wasn't seriously overdoing it.

I did a better job using the pacer today, ending up almost 20 watts below him.

After 4 days, my TSS for the "race" is 640, significantly less than the original plan. Families are great. They keep you from overtraining

That was my update from last year's 4 stage "Computrainer Stage Race" which I did on my March Break.

I was going to post my plans for this off-season, but I never got around to it( probably because they were so stupid), so this is instead a recap.

At some point back in October 2008, I became aware that every single stage from the 2008 Tour de France was available online (although I'm not sure exactly how they got them-a couple were either shortened or longer, but mostly they seemed right).

So starting in November, I set out to ride the entire route, although instead of doing it in 21 stages over 23 days, I did it in 69 stages over 133 days. My one rule was that every climb had to be completed in the same stage, so I did virtually ride Aspin, Peyresourde, Agnel, Galibier, Alpe D'Huez among others.

I also made good use of "metal-man", and kept the drafting on for all stages except the two TTs.

I got off to a slow start in November to January, but finished strongly in late February and early March (I did about the same km in the first 22 days of March as in November and December combined).

Overall: 3514 km, 116:20:09, Average speed 30.21, AW 210
Last 23 days: Feb 28 to March 22: 957 km in 20 days, AW 214

So I'm curious. I wonder if I was the only one foolish enough to ride the TdF on my CT, or if there was someone even crazier who did it and rode entire stages instead of splitting them up.